Tag: holidays (Page 13 of 19)

It was a pretty memorable Christmas for the B’s. Not because there were any super special presents, although we’re having trouble forcing the girls to stop playing with their Barbie Dream House. It wasn’t because of a surprise visitor, although we did have some fun guests. Nope, it was the anticipation of the Blizzard of 2012 that really added something special that set this year apart.

So a quick review of the past few days.

Sunday we had an impromptu get-together at a local family gathering point. There was cookie decorating, beverages, and kid-friendly games.

We came home Monday and prepared of our Christmas Eve traditions. The church we’ve attended mass at the last few years features one of the longest masses in all of Indiana, which is a special holiday treat for the kids, the non-Catholics, and the bad Catholics in the family. But we survived and trekked to the in-laws’ for our annual Christmas Eve feast.

We got home, told the girls that if they didn’t get to bed, Santa might skip our house, and it was like Ralphie and Randy Parker scrambling to bed in A Christmas Story. When the coast was clear, I was put in charge of assembling the Dream House, which was a dream, I tell you. I had assistance from my brother-in-law and his fiancé, and we managed to get it together without too much cursing or consternation.

Sometime around 5 am christmas morning, M. came strolling into our bedroom. She was summarily sent back to bed, and she and her sisters managed to hold out until 7:30 or so when we roused them. And then the shrieking was on.

The Dream House was a big hit, although we had to make sure C. understood it was for all of them, not just her, even though she was the only one who had specifically asked for it. She also got a Barbie closet among other things. M. got a cake pop maker. L. got a talking cash register, a light saber, and a race track. Later, when I was a customer and her ‘store’ buying gifts for my pretend four-year-old, L. asked me, “Is she a Tomboy?” Yes, I believe she is. The girls also shared Just Dance 4 for their Wii.

After some playtime the immediate family joined us for brunch and the girls got a gift from their Mimi: lunch with the princesses on our Disney visit next month. It was pretty funny. They each got a little Disney princess gift set with a purse, gloves, and necklace. With that was a note from their Mimi, which M. read aloud, telling them about the princess meal. M. read, the other two listened, and none of them got it at first. They sat there looking around in anticipation, waiting for the payoff, not hearing the words M. was reading. Once they got it though, they were pretty fired up.

It was a solid Christmas Day. I did have to say, “Stop playing with your sister’s toys!” way too much. And am still saying it too often, in fact. You’d think I’d be used to that by now, but I’m not.

Wednesday dawned cold and white, a light covering of snow already on the ground, with much more to come. While we just missed the worst of it, at 6+ inches it was our biggest snowstorm in nearly two years. I got the snowblower out for the first time since January 2011, which made my week. The girls got to play with the neighbors, including hiding in a sweet little snow fort the dads helped them put together.

We may not have had a white Christmas, but having the city shut down for snow on the 26th was a pretty decent consolation, at least for the girls.

I hope all of you had happy, warm, and safe Christmases.

I’ve written at least 2000 words about Newtown, but none of them have felt right to share here. I may yet post some thoughts about it, but for now let’s focus on more enjoyable stuff.

So, holiday notes!

Any home with girls in it will have a higher than normal amount of random glitter. Stuck to furniture, in the laundry, and just floating in the air. But this time of year, there seems to be even more. Especially in the washing machine and dryer. I did a load of the girls’ clothes today and, when I emptied the lint catcher, was greeted by a sparkling snowstorm of glitter. I can only blame myself, as I was the one who bought three Christmas shirts at target that had glitter all over them.

We took the girls to Jolly Days at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum after school Tuesday. We knew that would be risky, going straight from school with tired girls. But it also seemed like our best chance to avoid big crowds. We had mixed success. The place was as sparsely attended as we’ve ever seen it, but each girl had a cranky moment or two.

C.’s was especially poorly timed. When we went to see Santa, she wanted nothing to do with him. So while her sisters sat with the Big Man for a picture, C. sat outside with S.. Which is kind of sad, but there was no way we were forcing her up there and inviting a total meltdown.

I laughed when both L. and M. just shrugged when Santa asked them what they wanted. They’ve been talking about what they want constantly for two months and suddenly forget when they can go straight to the source. Hilarious.

After I asked M. why she didn’t tell him anything. She shrugged and said, “I just kind of forgot.”

Two weeks ago we took the girls on a Polar Express ride in French Lick, IN. I was expecting it to be awful, but it was really well done and a lot of fun. “Elves” brought us hot chocolate, they sang and danced, and Santa made an appearance, handing out bells to all the kids.

But there was a bummer moment. We went with our neighbors and I overheard the mother telling S. that their eight-year-old had informed them she wasn’t down with the Santa thing anymore. If you know what I mean. I got kind of sad when I heard that. I knew the clock was ticking on M. still being a kid at christmas. But if her best friend is seeing things differently, I know she can’t be far behind. I was really hoping for one, maybe two more Christmases with full belief from all the girls. I guess now I’ll just have to be happy if we get through the next week without her saying anything.

This week M. asked S. why her Polar Express bell said “Made In China.” S. said even Santa has to outsource to get everything done. I thought that was a fine observation and an even finer response.

This is our fourth year with an Elf on the Shelf. For some reason we always kept him in his box. I think it was originally to keep the youngest girls from grabbing him and moving him around. But over time it became habit.

We finally realized that we didn’t need to keep him in there anymore. Last night I met a friend for drinks. When I got home I took Elfie out of his box, grabbed a crayon and some paper, and wrote the girls a note.

“I finally figured out how to get out of that box! Good luck finding me!”

I left the note and the open box on the kitchen table and stashed him in a stocking.

There was much excitement when the girls discovered the note this morning and began their search for him.

I should have done this a long time ago. It makes moving him around each night so much easier.

I know it used to be normal for folks to get their Christmas trees right before Christmas, but I’m flabbergasted when I see people driving home with new trees this week. Of course, they probably think people like me who run out the day after Thanksgiving are insane, too.

L. loves the Grinch. She insists on watching either the cartoon or the movie pretty much every day. And she went bonkers the first time she heard the song on the local holiday music station.

Finally, after a couple dicey weeks over which I waited for it to carbonate, my Christmas beer is finally ready. My first two beers were fully carbed after a week in the bottle. I tried opening one of these after a week and it was totally flat. After another week there was some carbonation, but not as much as it should have had. Finally this week it opened with a resounding snap and poured with a good head. And it’s pretty damn tasty.

So, I officially unveil Shitter’s Full Yuletide Ale.

Merry Christmas!

Many of my regular readers are on our Christmas card list. Thus, they know that we generally go with the obvious option and just slap a picture of the girls on it. Over the years, that process has become problematic. I have no idea why, but there’s something about lining up for a picture in Christmas pajamas or other holiday outfit that makes our girls lose their minds. And thus we lose ours.

The ability to stand still and smile disappears when we try to take the picture. One kid gets the giggles and they all get them. Or one doesn’t like her hair or her outfit or her sister is bugging her or something else is setting her off and she refuses to smile. Or they’re too close. Or not close enough. And on and on.

I’m sure none of this is foreign to the other parents out there.

Two years ago, after an especially contentious photo session, we agreed we would never do it again. Last year we used a vacation picture for our Christmas card. This year we just happened to have a wedding, at which all the girls were dressed in their best, six weeks ago and are using a picture taken there.

But that doesn’t completely solve the problem. We also make a photo calendar each year for ourselves and the grandparents. And we always put a fresh holiday picture on the December page. Which means we still have to go through this nonsense.

So last night was nonsense night. I warned the girls in advance that we just needed them to be good for five minutes. “I need one good picture, do you understand? That’s all. This is for your family, so please help me out.” They all nodded their understanding and pledged to be good.

I was able to take individual shots of each girl as we tested locations and lighting. But the second we put all three together, it was over. L. wouldn’t smile the same pretty smile she had used five minutes earlier when it was just her. C. looked like a lunatic, eyes bugging out and a manic smile on her face. And she was the sister with the giggles. M. soon caught the giggles and passed them on to L.. And M. kept either squeezing L. out of the frame, or putting her arms in front of her face.

Sometimes we’d be on the verge of a good shot, and then M. would start talking while her sisters held their smiles. Or someone looked to the side while the others looked at me. And down the list of ways to ruin the picture they went.

As is our holiday tradition, there was much parental consternation, little child cooperation, and eventually we gave up and sent them to bed 45 minutes early because we were fed up. My parting words to them were, “All I asked for was one good picture and you couldn’t even give me that.” Another quality parenting moment.

Fortunately we got enough B- quality pics to put together a little collage for the December page and sent it off to the printers.

One day, we’ll pull out all these calendars when the girls come home from college or bring their own families over during the holidays, and flip through them, matching memories to photos. And when we get to December, I’ll be sure to remind them how they made it a nightmare to get that picture taken each year. My hope is they’ll look at me in disbelief and think I’m making it all up, not remember me being red in the face as I yelled at them to settle down, hold still, shut up, and smile.

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It was a fine Thanksgiving weekend for the B’s.

As I mentioned last week, we hosted the family get-together this year. We had 16, which for our family is small, but still takes some work to prepare for. I did the bird and stuffing. I narrowly avoided disaster with the bird. My thermometer wasn’t working correctly so I guessed on when to take it out of the oven. Turns out I left it in a little too long. Fortunately, I’ve always cooked my birds in oven bags, and that saved me. The meat literally fell off the bone, and the dark meat was too done. But the rest of it was fine, thanks to the bag. Remember, kids, before you put your bird in the oven, put a bag on it. And Giada’s stuffing¹ was a huge success. Instant add to the holiday go-to list.

All the rest of the food was great and we had a fine little gathering. It was a gorgeous day, pushing into the mid-60s, so the girls abandoned the parade to play with the neighbors for awhile. They made it back inside in time to see Santa, though. Which initiated a long argument about whether that was the real Santa or not. M. and C. insisted it was not, as his beard wasn’t long enough. C. added that he was busy making toys and couldn’t make the parade. I tried to convince them otherwise, but they weren’t having it.

It’s become a bit of a tradition in our house to watch Elf on Thanksgiving night, mostly because USA has shown it the last 2-3 years. USA no longer has the rights, and ABC Family isn’t showing it until next week, so we popped in the DVD after dinner. I’ve probably said this before, but the “Pennies From Heaven” scene, when Buddy first hits New York, is one of the great scenes in all of American cinema. Everything about it is perfect. I’m sure we’ll be watching Elf many more times over the next month.

In an odd twist, my other traditional Thanksgiving viewing event always gets pushed late into the evening. So, as in the recent past, I watch the “Thanksgiving Orphans” episode of Cheers after I had watched my first Christmas movie of the year. Even after 26 years it’s still my all-time favorite TV episode. And as much as the parade or Thanksgiving dinner or watching Elf, my holidays officially begin when I pour some scotch, or Jameson this year, and sit down with the gang from Cheers for half an hour.

Friday was tree day, and we ran to our local nursery shortly after it opened to claim our 2012 Christmas tree. As usual, we went with the 9′ Frasier Fir, and it’s a beaut, Clark.

I have no idea why, but we never test our lights a few days before Thanksgiving to make sure they’re all working and so we can replace any that don’t light. Naturally of our four strands, only two were 100% functioning. We swapped some bulbs around, got a third one to light, strung them around the tree, and when we plugged them in, that third string was now refusing to work. Great.

I decided to run up to Lowe’s, thinking it would be less crowded than Target or Wal-Mart. That was true, but the lights section was also very picked over, as I feared. I found four packages of plain, clear bulbed lights, checked out, and raced back home. I pop open the package and saw that while I checked the bulb color, I did not check the cord color. And I had four packages of lights with white cords. Greater.

So I explained to the girls we wouldn’t be decorating the tree until Saturday, when Target calmed down and I could get the lights I wanted. That all worked out fine and the tree was done by lunchtime on Saturday. We got our modest outdoor lights up, the rest of the house decorated and now we’re good to go for the holidays.

That was the extend of our shopping over the weekend. Well, the UPS truck brought a bunch of packages on Friday, which was about as close to Black Friday as we ever get. Several other orders were placed Sunday night, and I believe our shopping is done.

We had some big news for the girls, and I did not know if we were going to save it for Christmas morning or not. We decided not to wait, so Sunday, at the dinner table, we told them we had a surprise to share with them. M.’s eyes lit up and she shouted, “ARE WE GOING TO DISNEYLAND?!?!”

S. and I looked at each other, smiled a little, and said, “No,” together.

“Because we’re going to Disney WORLD.”

M. started shrieking and C. and L. looked around, blinking, not sure what the difference was. But yes, we’re finally taking the Disney leap in late January. I’m sure it will be great. And I’m sure I’ll need blood pressure medication before our three days there are complete.

The girls barely made it through a five day school break. Or rather the parents had trouble tolerating the noise and activity our three girls created over five days. I’m not sure what’s going to happen over Christmas break, but I better schedule some playdates and outings if we all want to make it to 2013.

Another important moment when I know the holidays have begun: the first time I play air drums to Phil Collins’ parts of “Do They Know It’s Christmas.”

The weather here crashed Friday morning, so after spending some time outside Thursday, I pretty much stuck to the living room TV the rest of the weekend. With all the rivalry weekend games in college, I got to explain the concept of rivals to M.. I’m pretty sure she didn’t get it, but she was interested and asked several questions.

Finally, by the time you read this, I will likely be done putting my Holiday Ale into bottles. I’m looking forward to being able to taste it in a week, but I really can’t wait to reveal the name I’ve chosen, and the label I’ve created, for it. I’m pretty proud of my work!

I hope your Thanksgivings were excellent, too.

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I might be slipping.

You’ll probably recall how I’ve generally been militant about Christmas preparations not starting until after Thanksgiving. That meant no trees up, no holiday music, no exterior decorations, and profound head shaking each time I saw a Christmas commercial before we’ve carved the first turkey of the season. This year, though, I’ve been looking forward to the Christmas season since September.

In early October I found myself spending far too much time examining the holiday lighting section at Lowe’s. I would occasionally start humming holiday classics unprovoked. Instead of looking forward to Halloween and Thanksgiving, I was thinking ahead to the days after Turkey Day, when we could put the tree up and transform the house for five weeks. Each Monday this month, on the way to school, I’ve scanned through the FM band looking for a station playing Christmas music. Not because I wanted to listen to it yet, of course. Just so the girls could hear it and know that Christmas was getting closer. I even recorded a couple holiday shows over the weekend, even though each of them will be on several times over the next month.

Why this change? I’m not sure I have an easy, obvious explanation.

I would imagine some of it is because the window for tiny tots Christmases is closing in our house. If last year was the perfect year, with L. old enough to understand what’s going on and M. young enough to still dive in with full belief, that balance is slipping a little. With M.’s personality, I see her as someone who is going to hang on a long time, even after she’s figured it out. But each year, makes it more likely she’ll give us a knowing look when we talk about Santa to her sisters. Or, as she gets moodier¹ an outburst could involve her shouting that Santa isn’t real when we remind her that her behavior is being watched.

This has been an odd year for me, which I think explains some of it, too. This was the year L. became self sufficient in 90% of matters. On days she’s not in school, I can just turn her loose and she entertains and occupies herself. The days of me having to monitor her activities 24/7 are over. And I will admit, like generations of full-time parents before me, it’s been an unsettling shift. You operate in one mode for seven years, your kids grow up, and you feel a bit unmoored. I know that 2013 is going to be a year where I have to not just think about the future but begin taking steps to set up what I’ll be doing for the next 10 years. Which freaks me out a little.

I think that combination of changes has me looking forward to this holiday season a little more. It’s something concrete, something with set routines, something that ties to the past. Good grief, I’m becoming a 50-something housewife, aren’t I?

So anyway, I’m going to try to dive in and really enjoy the next 48 hours of Thanksgiving, and push the Christmas thoughts off until Friday, when the decorating-holiday tunes-making merry orgy will begin. We’re hosting a small, for our family, group of 16 Thursday. I’m responsible for the bird and am giving a new stuffing recipe a spin.² It looks like we’re going to have terrific weather, too, so perhaps there will be time to toss the football with my stepdad or nephews at some point.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who read this. May your travels be safe, your bellies be full, and your family reunions follow the rule I established when we began hosting big get togethers a few years back: no crying and no F-you’s!

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We had a very successful Halloween here in Casa de B. The sisters hooked up with the neighbors and had matching costumes. The eight year olds went as fairies, the six year olds as princesses, and L. was the knight to protect them all. So she wouldn’t be alone, the neighbors put a little knight shirt on their dog.

We loaded up a wagon with supplies¹ and hit the streets. It was quite chilly, so we tackled the neighborhood in two shifts. Along the way we were joined by a couple other families, so at one point I think we had 10 or 11 kids strung out between 2-3 houses. Despite constant orders to wait for the others, M. was usually the first to run on to the next house even if the rest of our group was still waiting for their candy at the last house.

L. was tired of the cold and bailed when we made a pit stop around 7. There is a house a couple blocks over that turns their garage into a mini-haunted house each year. We had never done it before but the girls wanted to give it a shot this time. It’s pretty tame, although I guess the hosts tend to jump out and scream more for bigger kids, but it was basically pitch black with all kinds of spooky things forming a twisting path through a three-car garage. The girls did fine, although there were a few whimpers when someone did jump out at them towards the end.

We raced home, checked out the candy, and desperately tried to get the girls calmed down for bedtime. M.’s class had a major role in this morning’s All Saints Day mass, and we had to be at school earlier than normal. Bedtime was a bit of a disaster, but when isn’t it, really?

Other than that, it was a great Halloween. We went the farthest we’ve ever gone and I think the girls had the most fun they’ve ever had. We’ll give them a few days with their treats, then “donate” it all to someone who needs it more than us. Shortly after I’m sure the girls will kick off the Christmas countdown.

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